NE NEWS SERVICE
PUDUCHERRY, JULY 22
Two days after the Puducherry budget for 2020-21 was presented without her address, Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said she will deliver the customary address on July 24 as the government has sent her the relevant file and a fresh invitation.
Also Read: http://navjeevanexpress.com/presented-budget-in-consonance-with-union-territories-act-says-narayanasamy/
Bedi, who decided not to deliver her address on Monday on grounds that the budget was not sent to her for approval, said she received the file on Tuesday with an invitation from the assembly for the customary practice. “Accepting the invitation I have sent my consent to present the address at 9.30 am on July 24 (Friday) said.
On Monday, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy had presented the Rs 9,000 crore budget ”without” the approval of Bedi and her address to the assembly, which was kept in abeyance, in a virtually unprecedented development. Bedi had insisted that the government ought to have got the approval of her as the Administrator of the union territory for placing the budget in the assembly.
Narayanasamy had said there were no violations of any law and the annual financial statement had been duly recommended by Bedi and approved by the President. Bedi, in a whatsapp message to the media, said the file related to the budget arrived ”finally” on Tuesday night. An assembly source said the file containing the department-wise allocation of funds for the fiscal 2020-21 had been sent to the Lieutenant Governor.
This would be an unprecedented development as this is the first time a Lieutenant Governor would address the Assembly when it is in the midst of its budget session. Usually, the address is delivered at the start of the session.
